Kiss Carlo

July 17, 2017
Trigiani takes readers on a journey to post–World War II Philadelphia, where one man suddenly realizes that he wants more from life than the path that he has been given. After being orphaned at a young age, Nicky Castone lives with his uncle’s family, the Palazzinis. In 1949, following his military service, Nicky is now driving a cab for his uncle’s company and engaged to Peachy DePino. But he discovers true passion when he fills in as a substitute actor in a Shakespearean play at the nearby theater run by Calla Borelli and her father. When the taxi dispatch office receives a telegram that Carlo Guardinfante, an Italian ambassador, is unable to make an appearance at a local festival in Roseto, Pa., Nicky jumps at the chance to impersonate Carlo and further his acting skills. His experiences in Roseto lead him to question where his life is headed. Trigiani brilliantly brings 1949 South Philadelphia to life, complete with the humor and heartbreak of the close-knit Italian families who live there. Yet the true star is Nicky who, in his quest to break free, is most memorable.

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini's soft intonation sets the mood for this delightful story of postwar Italian-Americans in the Philadelphia suburbs. Ballerini's range of voices and accents distinguishes the characters and gives personality to both males and females. His delivery deepens the listener's connection to the plot, which centers on family dynamics, the theater world, romance, and friendship. Author Trigiani's well-loved humor and ability to capture the characters' culture take the spotlight in this celebration of all things Italian, including colorful language and culinary specialties. Ballerini's enthusiasm for the audiobook is contagious, even as he is sometimes too ardent. He tones down his performance, however, when the story turns to more complex themes such as ethnic differences and the difficulties of departing from society's expectations. C.B.L. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

October 30, 2017
Nicky Castone is an Italian-American cab driver in South Philadelphia after WWII, happy to finally settle down with his longtime fiancée Peachy DePino and move out of his family’s basement. But then he discovers a passion for the theater, and his long-planned life is no longer enough for him. This sweeping novel is populated with an almost overwhelming cast, and one narrator plays every part in the audio edition. Ballerini, a veteran television actor with recurring roles on The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, performs the epic 16-hour story so well that a listener can get lost in it. Ballerini’s voice can be gentle and carefully modulated or edgy and fast-talking in character. Particularly memorable are his portrayals of the comically indignant Peachy (and her angry parents), whose ire is palpable enough for Nicky to need to skip town, and rival love interest Calla, who runs the Shakespearean theater that inspires Nicky’s drastic change of course. Ballerini’s reading of Trigiani’s novel will have listeners attuned throughout.
A Harper hardcover.

February 1, 2017

The New York Times best-selling Trigiani tells the story of the Philadelphia-based Palazzinis, whose three sons return home with medals from World War II. Their orphaned cousin Nicky also comes home to live with the family, as he had since boyhood, and makes a sudden decision that changes everyone's life. With a 200,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
Calla Borelli inherited her love of the theater from her father, Sam, but directing only Shakespeare plays in 1949 might spell the end of her beloved Borelli theater.Trigiani (All the Stars in the Heavens, 2015, etc.) uses the motifs of the Bard's plays--orphans, star-crossed lovers, family feuds, and mistaken identities--and the Borelli theater stands at the center of all the action. She has crafted a world of warm, lively characters whose charming idiosyncrasies lead them to collide and ricochet along the way to love. Orphaned at 5, Nicky Castone was lovingly folded into his Aunt Jo and Uncle Dom's family in South Philly. Now 28 and a WWII veteran, he works in the family cab business, which competes with his Uncle Mike's business across town, since Dom and Mike have been feuding since 1933. When he's not squiring Peachy DePino, his fiancee of seven years, he moonlights at the Borelli theater as a prompter and anything else Sam and Calla need. One fateful night, however, two leads of Twelfth Night are called away, leaving Nicky and Calla to take the stage for Sebastian and Olivia's marriage scene, and chemistry ignites. Of course, Nicky and Calla don't know they are in love yet. First, the course of love must be strewn with obstacles: Frank, Calla's boyfriend, who wants to demolish the failing theater; Peachy, who objects to Nicky's breaking off their engagement; Mr. DePino, who also objects and whose threats of violence inspire Nick to flee town. Nick volunteers to drive a telegram to Roseto, Pennsylvania, but instead of delivering the message, he decides to impersonate Ambassador Carlo Guardinfante of Roseta Valfortore, Italy, a decorated WWII veteran who can no longer attend the Roseto Jubilee given his sudden illness. Chaos ensues. A delightfully sprawling comedy full of extended families, in all their cocooning warmth and suffocating expectations.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.